1st Gymnasium On 4 April 1803, Tsar
Alexander I of Russia signed a decree which transformed the preparatory school attached to the Chief School of the Duchy of Lithuania (i.e.
Vilnius University) into a gymnasium. It remained attached to and run by the university. Initially, the education lasted six years. The gymnasium had deep historical traditions and was closely associated with the university. It shared the premises and library, as well as some faculty. Out of 115 professors who taught at the university in 1803–1832, 15 were graduates of the gymnasium. The secret student societies
Philomaths and
Filaret Association were discovered when a student of the gymnasium wrote on the blackboard "Long live the
Constitution of 3 May 1791!" in May 1823. Tsarist police launched an investigation that spread to schools in
Kaunas,
Kėdainiai,
Panevėžys,
Svislach as well as
Kražiai College. Many students were expelled or sentenced to
katorga. After the closure of Vilnius University in 1832, the gymnasium inherited some remnants of its collection, including books, numismatic samples, scientific implements. In 1843, after the closure of the university and Catholic monasteries, several old bequests by nobles were consolidated to establish a dormitory that would provide free housing for 65 students. Inspired by the
Revolutions of 1848, several students started organizing an uprising against the Tsarist regime. However, the plot was discovered and 191 people were arrested; 74 were current or former gymnasium students. In 1849, the school was prohibited to admit children of tax-paying classes (i.e. non-nobles) without special individual exemptions. At the time, the school had 73 such students, all sons of craftsmen. In 1871, to prevent modern and revolutionary ideas, Minister of Education
Dmitry Tolstoy reorganized gymnasiums (including the one in Vilnius) to eight-year schools based on "classical" curriculum which spent as much as 40% of the time on
Latin and
Greek languages. In 1803, the 1st Gymnasium had nine teachers and 280 students. The number of students increased to 420 in 1805 and 753 in 1828. In 1826–1827, more than 90% of students were
Roman Catholics. The number of students decreased to 375 in 1835–1836, but jumped to 880 in 1845. During the
Uprising of 1863, the number of students decreased by 271 or 28% as students were expelled or voluntarily left in support of the uprising. In 1880, about 600 students studied at the 1st Gymnasium, about 80% of which were the children of officials and nobles. About 10% of the children were
Jews, while the rest were almost evenly split between
Roman Catholics and
Eastern Orthodoxs.
2nd Gymnasium After the failed
November Uprising, the university and many other schools were closed. Bucking the trend, the 2nd Boys' Gymnasium was opened in 1834. In October 1838, it was transformed into
Vilnius Institute for Nobles () meant for 100 sons of nobles. The institute was meant as a tool of
Russification; its students were encouraged to join the
Russian Imperial Army. As such, it did not become popular among the
Lithuanian nobles and was closed in 1863. A new gymnasium in Vilnius was established in 1868 when a was opened. The concept of "real schools" was borrowed from Germany. The 2nd Gymnasium was reestablished in 1884 after a reorganization of a six-year
progymnasium. In the early 20th century, tuition cost 75
Russian rubles at the 2nd Gymnasium. Both gymnasiums lived side by side, separated by a fence, and had a common house of prayer –
Saints Cyril and Methodius Church with icons painted by local academic
Ivan Trutnev. == People of the 1st Gymnasium ==